CARSTAIRS, Alta. – A few scattered yellow blossoms are all that remain for crop adjusters assessing the damage to canola crops battered by storms last week. Two severe hailstorms swept through the Carstairs area in central Alberta Aug. 2 and battered crops and property until they fizzled out near Warner in the southeast. Barley, wheat […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Grey filly wins Percheron show
OLDS, Alta. – Don Strandquist brought only one horse to the provincial Percheron show at Olds, but the two-year-old filly was good enough to be named supreme champion. The long-term Percheron breeder and showman from Stettler, Alta., has been a fixture at horse events for more than 40 years, exhibiting prize-winning animals all over North […] Read more
Winners at Alberta fair prepare for Agribition
The Olds Fair and Rodeo held Aug. 7-9 has been running for 110 years and has grown into one of Canada’s largest summer livestock shows. Each year, supreme championships are awarded to the top animals from horse, cattle, sheep and goat shows. This is the only Canadian show to feature a single parade of all […] Read more
Show puts youngsters in ring
STRATHMORE, Alta. – After a sweltering job leading cattle around a ring at high noon, sometimes the handlers just need a nap. With temperatures reaching 30 C late last month during the Strathmore Heritage Days’ open junior show, a big drink of water and a snooze in a shady spot were just the thing for […] Read more
Triticale to get face lift
LACOMBE, Alta. – Triticale growers want the 120-year-old plant to become more than a wallflower at the dance. Triticale, the result of crossing wheat and rye, has been used for years for silage or greenfeed because it is prolific and can withstand droughts. But Alberta researchers want to improve on that by reducing its height […] Read more
Biotechnology expands uses
LETHBRIDGE – Triticale is a man made crop that exhibits the best qualities of its rye and wheat parents. Now scientists are using biotechnology to advance a good utility animal feed for ethanol, paper and plastic production. “It is a beautiful plant, very well adapted to the region and higher yielding than wheat,” said Andre […] Read more
No rainbow on horizon: economists
The Conference Board of Canada forecasts improved economic growth next year, but it will be a joyless recovery of tepid growth. “By year end I expect there will be growth in the U.S. economy,” said Glen Hodgson, senior vice-president and chief economist for the Conference Board of Canada. But normal growth won’t emerge until 2011 […] Read more
CCA database links producers to beef buyers
A new information system that catalogues a range of beef cattle data hopes to match commercial producers to buyers with specific requests. Known as the Beef InfoXchange System and co-ordinated through the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, the program is like a dating service linking buyers with producers who have listed properties like age verification, health programs, […] Read more
Triticale touted for livestock feed
LACOMBE, Alta. – When hay is priced at $100-150 per tonne, using triticale for forage might hold down feed costs this year, says an Alberta Agriculture official. “We have to increase awareness of it to the livestock industry because we have to lower our costs of feeding,” said Bill Chapman of Alberta Agriculture at a […] Read more
Hutterites need photo ID: ruling
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled Hutterites must have their photographs on their drivers’ licences. The Wilson Colony of Hutterian Brethren near Lethbridge challenged the Alberta law that requires licences to have a photograph. The colony argued the photograph violated their freedom of religion under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Hutterites believe […] Read more
